On Sunday, a video surfaced of Michael Todd, the senior pastor of Transformation Church in Tulsa, publically spreading his spit on a man during a sermon called, “The Vision for Invasion.” Todd’s demonstration was meant to illustrate how Jesus healed the blind man at Bethsaida.
Todd’s actions quickly went viral and garnered many negative responses from people who were disgusted by the display and believed it was disrespectful, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since December 2021, the Omicron variant has been rapidly increasing the number of Covid-19 cases. It spreads more easily than the original strain, but how easily Omicron spreads compared to Delta remains unknown.
On Twitter, many people expressed their disgust about the spectacle. “Had never heard of ‘Pastor’ Mike Todd before today,” Atlantic writer Jemele Hill tweeted on Sunday night. “But I truly understand now why the elders used to frequently tell us that we’re in the last days.”
OscarsSoWhite hashtag creator April Reign wrote, “Unless you are Black Jesus himself and can prove it with a papyrus birth certificate, what you NOT gonna do is…. I’m disgusted,” Reign tweeted.
On Monday, the Transformation Church pastor posted an apology video to his social media account to take responsibility for his actions. In the caption he wrote, “It’s never my intention to distract others from God’s Word and the message of Jesus… even with illustrations! I apologize for my example being too extreme and disgusting! I Love Everybody 🧡”
Transformation Church also provided a statement about the incident in a Facebook post responding to a critical comment.
“We are so grateful for Pastor Mike’s and Brentom’s obedience to God, allowing themselves to be used, so God’s children can clearly receive His word. We pray that as you seek God, He gives you clear vision, and you always remember that.”